Semiconductor device having nickel silicide and method of fabricating nickel silicide

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device having nickel silicide and a method for fabricating nickel silicide. A semiconductor substrate having a plurality of doped regions is provided. Subsequently, a nickel layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and a first rapid thermal process (RTP) is performed to react the nickel layer with the doped regions disposed thereunder. Thereafter, the unreacted nickel layer is removed, and a second rapid thermal process is performed to form a semiconductor device having nickel silicide. The second rapid thermal process is a spike anneal process whose process temperature is between 400 and 600° C.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to a semiconductor device having nickelsilicide and a method of fabricating nickel silicide. The semiconductordevice has nickel silicides including nickel monosilicide and nickeldisilicide on the surface of source/drain regions, and the nickelsilicides are formed by two rapid thermal processes.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Silicide has been widely applied to IC fabrications for its advantages,such as high melt point, low resistance, etc. Currently, while criticaldimension, contact area, and junction depth are diminished gradually,the gate and source/drain regions of most semiconductor devices requiresilicide to reduce gate resistance, contact resistance, and RC delay, soas to improve drive current.

Silicide is fabricated by first forming a metal thin film on asemiconductor substrate, and subsequently performing a thermal process.Generally, the metal thin film is formed by, for instance evaporating orsputtering, on the semiconductor substrate covering where to formsilicide such as gate, and source/drain regions. Thereafter, thesemiconductor substrate is heated so that the metal thin film reactswith the gate and source/drain regions.

Silicide has another advantage of self-alignment. Currently,self-aligned silicide (also referred to as salicide) has been broadlyapplied in IC fabrications. Please refer to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. FIG.1 through FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a conventionalmethod for fabricating silicide. As shown in FIG. 1, a semiconductorsubstrate 10 is provided. The semiconductor substrate 10 includesisolations 12 (e.g. field oxide or STI), a gate dielectric layer 14, apolycrystalline silicon gate 16 disposed on the gate dielectric layer14, a spacer structure 18 formed alongside the polycrystalline silicongate 16, and source/drain regions 20 disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate 10 between the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and theisolations 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, a physical vapor process is performed to deposit ametal thin film 22 on the semiconductor substrate 10 covering thepolycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the source/drain regions 20. Asshown in FIG. 3, an anneal process is performed to react the metal thinfilm 22 with the polycrystalline silicon gate 16 and the source/drainregions 20, so as to form silicides 24 on the polycrystalline silicongate 16 and the source/drain regions 20. As shown in FIG. 4, theunreacted metal thin film 22 is removed.

Normally, metal materials for fabricating silicide are titanium, cobalt,nickel, etc. Titanium disilicide (TiSi₂) has a lower resistance rangingbetween 12 and 20 μΩ-cm, however, it suffers from narrow linewidtheffect. When critical dimension reduces to less than 180 nm, the sheetresistance increases dramatically. Therefore, cobalt disilicide (CoSi₂)and nickel monosilicide (NiSi) whose resistances are slightly higher (15to 20 μΩ-cm) are more suitable for forming silicide because nearly nonarrow linewidth effect is observed. Between these two materials, nickelconsumes less silicon in the silicidation process, and thus is morepreferred.

Nickel silicide, however, still suffers some disadvantages. Please referto FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic diagramsrespectively illustrating a semiconductor device having nickel silicideformed by a conventional method. As shown in FIG. 5, the semiconductordevice includes a semiconductor substrate 30, isolations 32, a gatedielectric layer 34 disposed on the semiconductor substrate 30, apolycrystalline silicon gate 36 disposed on the gate dielectric layer34, a spacer structure 38 formed alongside the polycrystalline silicongate 36, and source/drain regions 40 positioned in the semiconductorsubstrate 30 between the polycrystalline silicon gate 36 and theisolations 32. Nickel silicides 42 are formed on the surface of thesource/drain regions 40. However, the nickel silicides 42 of thesemiconductor device (especially an P type device) tend to grow downwardas shown in FIG. 5. This phenomenon is referred to as spiking effect,and leads to current leakage between the source/drain regions 40 and thesemiconductor substrate 30. In addition to the spiking effect, thenickel silicides 42 of the semiconductor device (especially a N typedevice) tend to grow laterally as shown in FIG. 6. This phenomenon isreferred to as piping effect, and results to reduction of thresholdvoltage.

In view of the aforementioned problems, the present invention proposes asemiconductor device having nickel silicide and a method for fabricatingnickel silicide to avoid these problems. The nickel silicide of thepresent invention includes nickel monosilicide and nickel disilicideformed by two rapid thermal processes. Consequently, spiking defect andpiping defect are prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the claimed invention to provide a semiconductordevice having nickel silicide and a method for fabricating nickelsilicide to avoid the aforementioned problems.

According to the claimed invention, a method of fabricating nickelsilicide is proposed. First, a semiconductor substrate having aplurality of doped regions is provided. A nickel layer is formed on thesemiconductor substrate, and a first rapid thermal process is performedto react the nickel layer with the doped regions disposed thereunder.Subsequently, the unreacted nickel layer is removed, and a second rapidthermal process is performed. The second rapid thermal process is aspike anneal process having a process temperature between 400 and 600°C.

According to the claimed invention, a semiconductor device having nickelsilicide is also disclosed. The semiconductor device has a semiconductorsubstrate; a plurality of doped regions disposed in the semiconductorsubstrate; and a plurality of nickel silicides disposed in the dopedregions. Each nickel silicide has a nickel monosilicide region includingnickel monosilicide disposed on a surface of each doped region, and anickel disilicide pocket including nickel disilicide disposed on aninterface between each nickel monosilicide region and each doped region.

According to the claimed invention, another semiconductor device havingnickel silicide is still disclosed. The semiconductor device has asemiconductor substrate; a plurality of doped regions disposed in thesemiconductor substrate; and a plurality of nickel silicides disposed inthe doped regions. Each nickel silicide includes nickel monosilicide andnickel disilicide, and nickel disilicide has a weight percentage ofbetween 1% and 10%.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 are schematic diagrams illustrating a method forfabricating silicide.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are schematic diagrams respectively illustrating asemiconductor device having nickel silicide formed by a conventionalmethod.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the process steps of forming nickelsilicide according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 through FIG. 11 schematically illustrate a method for fabricatingnickel silicide according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 through FIG. 15 schematically illustrate a method forfabricating nickel silicide according to another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 7, which is a flow chart illustrating the processsteps of forming nickel silicide according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the method of the presentinvention includes the following steps:

Step 50: providing a semiconductor substrate having a plurality of dopedregions;

Step 52: forming a nickel layer on the semiconductor substrate;

Step 54: performing a first rapid thermal process to react the nickellayer with the doped regions, so as to form nickel silicide;

Step 56: removing the unreacted nickel layer; and

Step 58: performing a second rapid thermal process to transform aportion of nickel monosilicide into nickel disilicide, wherein thetemperature of the second rapid thermal process is between 400 and 600°C.

The method for fabricating nickel silicide features a two-step rapidthermal process. Specifically, a first rapid thermal process isperformed after the nickel layer is formed on the semiconductorsubstrate to form nickel monosilicide. Subsequently, the unreactednickel layer is removed, and a second rapid thermal process is carriedout to transform a portion of nickel monosilicide into nickeldisilicide.

Nickel monosilicide has a lower resistance ranging between 15 and 20μΩ-cm, but is less thermal stable. On the other hand, nickel disilicidehas a relatively higher resistance ranging between 40 and 50 μΩ-cm, butis thermally stable. Accordingly, the method of the present inventiontransforms a small portion of nickel monosilicide into nickel disilicideso as to prevent nickel monosilicide from growing downward or laterallyin the doped regions. Consequently, spiking defect and piping defect arediminished. It is appreciated that the weight percentage of nickeldisilicide is merely between 1% and 10%, and thus the resistance ofnickel silicide nearly remains the same.

Please keep on referring to FIG. 8 through FIG. 11. FIG. 8 through FIG.11 schematically illustrate a method for fabricating nickel silicideaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in whichonly one semiconductor device is schematically drawn. As shown in FIG.8, a semiconductor substrate 60 is provided. The semiconductor substrate60 can be a silicon substrate, an SOI substrate, or other suitablesubstrates. The semiconductor substrate 60 includes isolations 62 e.g.FOX or STI, a gate dielectric layer 64 e.g. a gate oxide layer, a gate66 e.g. a polycrystalline silicon gate disposed on the gate dielectriclayer 64, a spacer structure 68 formed alongside the gate 66, andsource/drain regions 70 disposed in the semiconductor substrate 60between the gate 66 and the insulators 62. In this embodiment, thesemiconductor device can be various transistors, memory devices, logicdevices, etc.

As shown in FIG. 9, a physical vapor deposition process, such as anevaporating process or a sputtering process, is performed to deposit anickel layer 72 on the semiconductor substrate 60 to cover the gate 66and the source/drain regions 70. The nickel layer 72 can be a nickelmetal layer or a nickel alloy layer. After the nickel layer 72 isdeposited, a barrier layer 73 e.g. a titanium layer or a titanium oxidelayer is optionally formed on the nickel layer 72 to prevent oxidizationof the nickel layer 72. As shown in FIG. 10, a first rapid thermalprocess is performed to react the nickel layer 72 with the gate 66 andthe source/drain regions 70. Therefore, nickel monosilicide regions 74substantially consist of nickel monosilicide are formed on the surfaceof the source/drain regions 70, and nickel silicide 76 is formed on thegate 66. Since the nickel layer 72 is only in contact with the gate 66and the source/drain regions 70, the method of the present invention isself-aligned. It is appreciated that the first rapid thermal process canbe a soak anneal process or a spike anneal process, and the processtemperature is between 250 to 350° C. Preferably, the processtemperature is 300° C.

As shown in FIG. 11, the barrier layer 73 and the unreacted nickel layer72 are removed. A second rapid thermal process is subsequently performedto transform nickel monosilicide positioned at the bottom of the nickelmonosilicide regions 74 into nickel disilicide, so as to form a nickeldisilicide pocket 78 under each nickel monosilicide region 74. In thisembodiment, the second rapid thermal process is a spike anneal process.The process temperature is between 400 and 600° C., and preferablybetween 480 and 520° C. The process time is between 5 and 20 seconds,and preferably between 8 and 12 seconds. It is noted that thetemperature time of the spike anneal process is measured by “T-50”.“T-50” means the time duration between the two temperature points 50degrees lower than the highest temperature (T° C.). In addition, afterthe first rapid thermal process, another form of nickel silicide,dinickel silicide (Ni₂Si), which has a high resistance, may produce. Thesecond rapid thermal process also works to transform dinickel silicideinto nickel monosilicide.

Accordingly, semiconductor device having nickel silicide is formed. Thenickel silicide of the present invention includes nickel monosilicideregion substantially consist of nickel monosilicide and nickeldisilicide pockets consist of nickel disilicide. In addition, the weightpercentage of nickel disilicide is between 1% and 10%. Consequently, theresistance of nickel silicide is not affected, while spiking defect andpiping defect are diminished.

Please refer to FIG. 12 through FIG. 15. FIG. 12 through FIG. 15schematically illustrate a method for fabricating nickel silicideaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, inwhich only one semiconductor device is schematically drawn. As shown inFIG. 12, a semiconductor substrate 80 is provided. The semiconductorsubstrate 80 includes isolations 82, a gate dielectric layer 84, a gate86 e.g. a polycrystalline silicon gate disposed on the gate dielectriclayer 84, a spacer structure 88 formed alongside the gate 86, andsource/drain regions 90 disposed in the semiconductor substrate 80between the gate 86 and the insulator 82. In this embodiment, thesemiconductor device can be various transistors, memory devices, logicdevices, etc.

As shown in FIG. 13, a physical vapor deposition process, such as anevaporating process or a sputtering process, is performed to deposit anickel layer 92 on the semiconductor substrate 80 to cover the gate 86and the source/drain regions 90. The nickel layer 92 can be a nickelmetal layer or a nickel alloy layer. After the nickel layer 92 isdeposited, a barrier layer 93 e.g. a titanium layer or a titanium oxidelayer is optionally formed on the nickel layer 92 to prevent oxidizationof the nickel layer 92. As shown in FIG. 14, a first rapid thermalprocess is performed to react the nickel layer 92 with the source/drainregions 90 and the gate 86. Therefore, nickel monosilicide regions 94substantially consist of nickel monosilicide are formed on the surfaceof the source/drain regions 90, and nickel silicide 96 is formed on thegate 86.

As shown in FIG. 15, the barrier layer 93 and the unreacted nickel layer92 are removed. A second rapid thermal process is subsequently performedto transform a portion of nickel monosilicide in the nickel monosilicideregions 94 into nickel disilicide, so as to form nickel silicide regions98 including nickel monosilicide and nickel disilicide. In thisembodiment, the second rapid thermal process is a spike anneal process,and the weight percentage of nickel disilicide is between 1% and 10%. Incomparison with the above embodiment, nickel monosilicide and nickeldisilicide are uniformly dispersed instead of having an obviousinterface therebetween by modifications of process parameters.

In conclusion, the method of the present invention partially transformsnickel monosilicide into nickel disilicide. This small amount ofthermally stable nickel disilicide prevents nickel monosilicide fromgrowing downward and laterally. Consequently, spiking defect and pipingdefect are prevented.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. A semiconductor device having nickel silicide, comprising: asemiconductor substrate; a plurality of doped regions disposed in thesemiconductor substrate; and a plurality of nickel silicides disposed inthe doped regions, each nickel silicide comprising a nickel monosilicideregion comprising nickel monosilicide disposed on a surface of eachdoped region, and a nickel disilicide pocket comprising nickeldisilicide, wherein the nickel disilicide pocket is uniform, disposed onan interface between each nickel monosilicide region and each dopedregion.
 2. The semiconductor device having nickel silicide of claim 1,wherein nickel disilicide has a weight percentage of between 1% and 10%.3. The semiconductor device having nickel silicide of claim 1, whereinthe doped regions comprise source/drain regions.
 4. The semiconductordevice having nickel silicide of claim 1, further comprising a pluralityof gates disposed on the semiconductor substrate.
 5. A semiconductordevice having nickel silicide, comprising: a semiconductor substrate; aplurality of doped regions disposed in the semiconductor substrate; anda plurality of nickel silicide regions disposed in the doped regions,each nickel silicide region comprising nickel disilicide wherein thenickel silicide region is uniformly dispersed, and nickel disilicide hasa weight percentage of between 1% and 10%.
 6. The semiconductor devicehaving nickel silicide of claim 5, wherein the doped regions comprisesource/drain regions.
 7. The semiconductor device having nickel silicideof claim 5, further comprising a plurality of gates disposed on thesemiconductor substrate.